fish were, however, now moving more slowly, and one
would break back, then half a dozen, and finally all
was confusion; for the whole lot, frightened at the
shallowness of the water, turned with one accord and,
despite every endeavour, forced their way between the
ponies’ legs and gained the deeper water. In the
struggle the water became black oo with mud and the
surface churned into foam: at least one thousand
must have been collected together until the cordon
gave way before their onslaught. They closely
resembled the mahseer of India, with the difference
that the feelers were longer and the scales smaller.
It is possible that, like these fish, the smaller ones may
take the fly and the larger the spoon, in which case
the Brahmaputra will be a paradise for the angler in
years to come.
Along the banks, and in the silent reaches, barheaded
geese were plentiful, and a few ducks were
also to be seen; the former were at first very tame,
but a few shots soon warned them that their old
enemies from the plains of India had reached their
hitherto safe haven. Bailey managed to account for
four, with one successful shot, and these were retrieved
by ten excited Tibetans, who plunged into
the water together, and struggled amongst themselves
for the honour of bringing the birds to
shore.
Rising abruptly from the centre of the plain, and
on the right bank of the river, was a great rock, every
available foot of which was covered by the buildings
of the Fort of Lhatse. At that time no opportunity
offered of examining it more closely, as a large crowd
had collected, and the guides led us at a trot into a
walled garden surrounded by trees, and with a pleasant
little house at one end. Here we took up our abode
L hatse F ort anp M o n a s t e r y .